The small cup is supported on a narrow foot with a widely splayed base, the stem cast with a raised midsection. The rounded cup with flaring rim is finely engraved around the exterior with a scrolling floral design, below a raised border and another scroll encircling the rim, all against a fine ring-punched ground.

PROVENANCE
Formerly in the collection of Erwin Harris, Miami, Florida, by 1991
Christie’s New York, 2017

PUBLISHED
Christie’s New York, The Harris Collection: Important Early Chinese Art, 16 March, 2017, lot 876

The present stem cup perfectly demonstrates the refined workmanship of metal wares made during the Tang dynasty. The intricate design was chased on the surface, whereas the fine ground was accomplished by working the surface with a metal tool ending in a circular tip.
A very similar gilt-bronze cup is illustrated in H. Trubner, The Arts of the T’ang Dynasty, 1957, pl. 121. Cups of this shape and design were also made in beaten silver, see for example a cup published by Bo Gyllensvärd in Chinese Gold & Silver in the Carl Kempe Collection, 1953, pl. 102 a.